CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - On Thursday, the Charleston County Finance Committee approved $200,000 from the town of Mt. Pleasant for some changes to Highway 41.
The county and town have already joined efforts for a Highway 41 improvement project that’s in the works.
The project requires federal action and is subject to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures.
Currently, there are two alternatives to decide which improvements will be done for the highway. Officials say this is a necessity because the road has some of the worst traffic during rush hour.
In the meantime, officials say the traffic on the road needs immediate relief.
A project team with the Charleston County Transportation Development developed a concept for an interim improvement project for the southern part of 41 leading into Mt. Pleasant.
The project would build a lane right outside of the highway from Bessemer Road to US 17, and create some intersection improvements to help with signal timing on the highway.
The initial funding, approved during Thursday’s meeting, would go towards the design and engineering efforts of this project.
County Vice Chairman Herb Sass said, “It’ll make traffic flow a lot easier coming into town, and it’ll be part of our improvements for the whole road once the whole project is finished.”
The Charleston County Transportation Development says traffic on the corridor gets a level F, the worst service rating, during peak traffic hours.
While the official improvement project goes through the acceptance process, officials say this interim project is something that can’t wait.
Now that the committee has approved this money, it’ll go through the county council next.
Charleston County would pay for the $3 million needed for the construction process of the interim project.
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